Same-Sex Marriage Verdict: All that the Supreme Court has allowed

The Supreme Court Tuesday ruled that there cannot be legal recognition for same-sex marriages in India, passing over the case to the Parliament. The five-judge bench came up with four judgments while unanimously agreeing that “there is no unqualified right to marry for same-sex couples.” While Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachudh and Justice SK Kaul ruled that same-sex couples have the right to adopt, the other three judges disagreed. The apex court has asked the Centre to form a committee with domain experts that will be responsible for protecting the rights of the LGBTQ community. However, CJI Chandrachud also upheld the rights of queer people in the judgment. These are:

• The bench struck down the regulations laid down by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) observing that it is wrong “to assume that only heterosexual couples can be good parents,” giving way for queer couples to adopt children, the CJI said.
• Centre, state governments, and Union Territories shall not bar queer people from entering into unions to avail benefits of the state
• The CJI said that homosexuality or queerness is not an urban concept or restricted to the upper classes of society
• CJI Chandrachud said a marriage between a transgender person and a heterosexual person will be considered a union of a man and a woman. “A transgender man has the right to marry a woman, a transgender woman has the right to marry a man and a transgender woman and transgender man can also marry, and if not allowed it will violate the Transgender Act,” he said
• Union, States, and Union Territories have been directed not to discriminate queer people in the supply of goods and services as well as sensitize the public to prevent harassment of any kind
• Freedom of queer to enter into a union is guaranteed under the Constitution. Denial of such rights would translate into rejection of fundamental rights
• Queer people cannot be forced to return to their natal families